The 2012 California Homeowner Bill of Rights aims to bring fairness to the state's foreclosure process through significant mortgage and foreclosure reforms. It establishes a dual track foreclosure ban and single point of contact for borrowers, and allows for enforcement of material violations. The bill is part of California Attorney General Kamala Harris' response to the state's foreclosure crisis and follows a bank settlement that provided $18 billion in relief for California borrowers. Accompanying legislation addresses blight prevention, tenant protections, strengthening law enforcement against fraud, and allowing special grand juries for complex financial crimes.
Eighth Amendment Bill to the Belize Constitution: Formerly the Ninth Amendm...Myrtle Palacio
The controversial Bill goes to the House in less than 24 hours for approval on October 24, 2011. It has been rename the Eight Amendment Bill and critis claim that it still contains some "Offensive" Sections---Sopme notes and a copy of the Bill.
Intention to Create Legal Relations : Presumptions and the RebuttalsPreeti Sikder
After completion of this lesson students will be able to :
a) identify the presumptions relating to domestic agreements and commercial transactions
b) distinguish between the two basic presumptions under the doctrine of intention to create legal relations;
Eighth Amendment Bill to the Belize Constitution: Formerly the Ninth Amendm...Myrtle Palacio
The controversial Bill goes to the House in less than 24 hours for approval on October 24, 2011. It has been rename the Eight Amendment Bill and critis claim that it still contains some "Offensive" Sections---Sopme notes and a copy of the Bill.
Intention to Create Legal Relations : Presumptions and the RebuttalsPreeti Sikder
After completion of this lesson students will be able to :
a) identify the presumptions relating to domestic agreements and commercial transactions
b) distinguish between the two basic presumptions under the doctrine of intention to create legal relations;
The Speculator Loophole: Ellis Act Evictions in San FranciscoTenants Together
Dean Preston, Executive Director of Tenants Together, authored this report. Dean is an attorney and a leading expert on the Ellis Act. Tenants Together is a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of California tenants to safe, decent, and affordable housing. Tenants Together is California’s only statewide
renters’ rights organization.
Tenants Together collaborated with the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project to prepare this report. The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project has been at the forefront of collecting, analyzing and presenting data on Ellis Act evictions in San Francisco. TT wishes to acknowledge and thank Erin McElroy and Jennifer Fieber of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project for their extraordinary work on data and visualizations for this report, Aimee Inglis of Tenants Together for graphic design, and Sasha Ellis of Tenants Together for research assistance.
The legislature in Sacramento is still out but that doesn't change the fact that at some point they'll be back and our business members need our advocacy more than ever. Especially critical when you hear about some of the gut-and-amend bills happening right now like AB 828, which would irreparably harm every landlord in California.
Several members of the Indianapolis City-County Council, as well as the city-county council clerk who was fired last week by Council President Stephen Clay, are taking him to court.
Federal Preemption under Dodd-Frank's Whistleblower Award ProgramKathleen Clark
This research project examines whether lawyers -- like other corporate insiders -- are able to take advantage of the financial incentives that are available under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Dodd-Frank whistleblower program. Under that program, whistleblowers can be awarded 10-30% of the sanctions that the SEC obtains in enforcement cases. These financial incentives are working, as demonstrated by 3000 whistleblower tips that the SEC receives each year – not just from the United States but also from more than 50 nations. This presentation focuses on the interplay of state and federal authorities in regulating the disclosure options available to securities lawyers.
1. CALIFORNIA HOMEOWNER BILL OF RIGHTS
Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General of California
The 2012 California Homeowner Bill of Rights is a legislative package designed to bring
fairness, accountability and transparency to the state’s mortgage and foreclosure process.
More than one million California homes were lost to foreclosure between 2008 and 2011—
with an additional 500,000 currently in the foreclosure pipeline. Seven of the nation’s 10
hardest-hit cities by foreclosure rate in 2011 were in California.
The California Homeowner Bill of Rights marks the third step in Attorney General Harris’
response to the state’s foreclosure and mortgage crisis. The first step was to create the
Mortgage Fraud Strike Force, which has been investigating and prosecuting misconduct at all
stages of the mortgage process. The second step was to extract a commitment from the nation’s
five largest banks of an estimated $18 billion for California borrowers. The settlement contained
thoughtful reforms but are only applicable for three years, and only to loans serviced by the
settling banks.
Two key bills contain significant mortgage and foreclosure reforms. AB 278
(Eng/Feuer/Mitchell/Pérez) and SB 900 (Leno/Evans/Corbett/DeSaulnier/Pavley/Steinberg) have
been thoroughly considered by a legislative conference committee. The major provisions of the
bills include:
Dual track foreclosure ban – The legislation would require a mortgage servicer to render
a decision on a loan modification application before advancing the foreclosure process by
filing a notice of default or notice of sale, or by conducting a trustee’s sale. The
foreclosure process is essentially paused upon the completion of a loan modification
application for the duration of the lender’s review of that application.
Single point of contact – The legislation would require a mortgage servicer to designate a
“single point of contact” for borrowers who are potentially eligible for a federal or
proprietary loan modification application. The single point of contact is an individual or
team which must have knowledge of the borrower’s status and foreclosure prevention
alternatives, access to decision makers, and the responsibility to coordinate the flow of
documentation between borrower and mortgage servicer.
Enforceability – Includes authority for borrowers to seek redress of “material” violations
of the legislation. Injunctive relief would be available prior to a foreclosure sale and
recovery of damages would be available following a sale.
Verification of documents – The legislation would subject the recording and filing of
multiple unverified documents to a civil penalty of up to $7,500 per loan in an action
brought by a civil prosecutor. It would also allow enforcement under a violator’s
licensing statute by the Department of Corporations, Department of Real Estate or
Department of Financial Institutions.
2. The other bills in the California Homeowner Bill of Rights are:
BLIGHT PREVENTION LEGISLATION: AB 2314 (Carter) & SB 1472 (Pavley and DeSaulnier) to
help combat the blight and crime associated with foreclosed properties.
AB 2314: Passed out of Assembly (71-0). It was passed out of Senate Judiciary on
June 26 (4-0). It will be heard next on the Senate floor.
SB 1472: Passed out of Senate (36-0). It passed out of Assembly Housing and
Community Development (7-0) on June 27, and will be heard next in Assembly
Judiciary Committee on July 3.
TENANT PROTECTION LEGISLATION: AB 2610 (Skinner) and SB 1473 (Hancock) to help
protect tenants in foreclosed properties.
AB 2610: Passed out of Assembly (56-14). It will be heard next in Senate Judiciary
on July 3.
SB 1473: Passed out of Senate (25-13). It passed out the Assembly Housing and
Community Development on June 27 (6-1) and will be heard next in Assembly
Judiciary on July 3.
ENHANCEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL ENFORCEMENT ACT: AB 1950 (Davis) to strengthen
the law enforcement response to mortgage and foreclosure fraud.
AB 1950: Passed out of Assembly (56-22). It passed out of Senate Banking (5-0) on
June 27 and will be heard next in the Senate Judiciary, July 3, 2012.
ATTORNEY GENERAL SPECIAL GRAND JURY ACT: AB 1763 (Davis) and SB 1474 (Hancock) to
strengthen prosecutions of complex, multi-jurisdictional fraud and crimes.
SB 1474: Passed out of Senate (38-0). Passed out of Assembly Public Safety (4-0)
and will be heard next in Assembly Appropriations.
AB 1763: Passed out of Assembly (78-0). Passed out of Senate Public Safety on June
26 (7-0). It will be heard next in Senate Appropriations.